WASHINGTON (AP) -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush pleaded guilty nearly 25 years ago to driving while under the influence of alcohol, his presidential campaign said Thursday after news organizations received copies of the 1976 police report.
''It's not something he's proud of,'' spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said, explaining why Bush had not come forward with the information on his own.
Bush, 54, was pulled over by police for driving too slowly near his family's Kennebunkport, Maine, summer home during the Labor Day weekend. Other people were in the car, but Tucker did not know who.
Tucker said Bush paid a $150 fine and had his driving privileges revoked in the state of Maine for a short period. His drivers' license in Texas, where Bush lived at the time, was not revoked or suspended, she said.
The GOP presidential nominee has said he quit drinking the day after his 40th birthday -- July 6, 1986. Alcohol ''was beginning to compete for my affections,'' he told an interviewer in September.
Campaign officials said Bush was detained by police, though they did not know for how long, and said he posted a $500 bond. They said Bush decided to release details of the incident after the police report was faxed to Maine news outlets.
''He has said repeatedly he is not going to itemize the mistake that he made. He has said what's important is that every American knows it's not right to drink and drive,'' Tucker said.
A year before the incident, Bush earned his Masters of Business Administration and returned to Texas to get into the oil business at age 29.
In the summer of 1977, he met his wife, Laura, and married her in November. A year later, he launched an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Congress. |
